


Recipe for Romance

by Weareallstoriesintheend



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-17
Updated: 2016-12-09
Packaged: 2018-08-22 21:22:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8301571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Weareallstoriesintheend/pseuds/Weareallstoriesintheend
Summary: Oliver meets Felicity while working at the Farmer's Market. He's enamored, but thinks she's unavailable. AU





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ellefraser17](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellefraser17/gifts).



> This is a REALLY belated birthday gift for Leigh! I hope you like it. It's super fluffy, like cotton candy. Think Hallmark movie. I hope you all like it! Let me know what you think!

He could feel his sister’s eyes on him as he unloaded the boxes from the van. She’d been staring at him for a while now and Oliver knew he couldn’t ignore her anymore.

“What is it, Speedy?” he asked setting the boxes under the table. “You’ve been staring at me for an hour.”

“I’m just trying to figure out what’s different about you today,” Thea replied.

Oliver turned to see her staring at him, arms crossed over her chest, an appraising look on her face.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said, heading back to van for another load. He bit back a sigh when he heard Thea following behind him. He knew his sister well enough to know she wasn’t going to let it go if she thought something was going on.

“Don’t play dumb with me, big brother,” Thea told him as she reached into the van beside him and grabbed some of the boxes. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her not to carry so much, but he resisted. He kept forgetting that she wasn’t a little kid anymore despite her constant reminders.

Oliver breathed a sigh of relief when Thea got distracted by people visiting their booth and couldn’t keep pestering him. The next several minutes were spent silently unloading boxes from the van and bringing them over to the tables. He smiled softly to himself when he paused and saw the people approaching their tables.Verdant Farms was new to the Starling City Farmer’s Market, but they had already developed a reputation for quality produce and meats. Not to mention their homemade baked goods sold out every week.

Thinking of the baked goods, Oliver remembered that he needed to save one. Glancing briefly at Thea, he saw that she was distracted by a customer and took his chance. Quickly, he snagged one of the cinnamon chip scones he’d made this morning and wrapped it in a napkin.

“Feeling hungry?” Oliver dropped his head back on his shoulders with a groan. He should have known that if Thea didn’t see him, Digg would.

“I was just going to…”

“Save that for Felicity?” Digg finished for him with a knowing smirk.

“Who’s Felicity?” Thea asked, pouncing on the new information after saying goodbye to her last customer.

This time Oliver didn’t hold back the sigh. He should have never asked Thea to come along this morning. Most Saturdays his sister stayed back at the farm and helped Digg’s wife, Lyla, get ready for their afternoons at the farm, but she’d been after him to take on more responsibility. He knew she wanted to be more involved in what he was creating and he wanted that too. Unfortunately, that meant she would be here and she would meet..her.

“Felicity is a woman who comes to the market every weekend,” Digg was telling Thea, completely ignoring the daggers Oliver was shooting his way. “She’s sweet and your brother keeps making heart eyes at her. She signed up for the CSA boxes too.”

Thea’s eyes lit up. “That’s why you’ve been weird this morning!” she exclaimed, clearly delighted to have figured out the mystery.

“I haven’t been weird,” Oliver muttered, tucking the wrapped up scone behind a box of tomatoes.

“Really?” Thea asked disbelieving. “That’s why you’re stashing pastries away?” Digg snorted out a laugh beside him before leaving the bickering siblings behind to go help their customers.

“I know she likes them and I don't want her to miss out on one,” Oliver said. “I’d do that for any of my, our, regulars.”

“Would you also make sure that their CSA box was on top?” Thea asked sweetly as she peered at the neatly stacked boxes behind the table. The one on top was clearly marked with the name Felicity Smoak. “Is that why you’ve been checking the time on your phone every two minutes?”

Ignoring his sister, Oliver tried to walk away, but Thea wasn’t having it. “You have a crush, Ollie! Just admit it!”

With another sigh, this one of defeat, he looked at his little sister and said, “Yes, I do.Okay? You were right.”

Thea smirked in response. “I can’t wait to meet her!” she exclaimed. “What time does she usually come by?”

“Around 8:30, but Thea,” he said, grabbing his sister’s hand when she started to walk away. “She has a boyfriend.”

Waving a hand in the air, Thea brushed off his concern. “So what?”

“I mean it, Speedy,” Oliver warned. “No sly comments, no teasing remarks. Just be nice, okay?” Thea just stared at him for a minute. Oliver knew, he knew, he’d given too much away and she could see right through him.

“Okay, Ollie,” she agreed slowly. “I’ll be nice.”

With a grateful smile, Oliver let go of her hand and went about refilling the displays of their organic produce.

As a kid, he’d always loved playing in the dirt. When he’d gotten a little older, their housekeeper, Raisa, figured out she could channel that love and his unrelenting energy into gardening. He’d grumbled and fought her until he pulled the first carrot grown by him from the ground. From then on he was hooked. His gardens had taken over the yard and he knew that he would never be happy in a boardroom like his father. He belonged outside, in the dirt. After graduating college with a degree in agriculture, Oliver had known it was time to try it on his own. When he began looking into starting a farm, he’d met Digg and knew he’d found the perfect partner. The other man had years of experience in farming,especially in animal husbandry.Verdant Farms had grown from their combined vision. As their second summer approached, Digg and Oliver had decided to venture to the Farmer’s Market. Verdant Farms was small, but that’s what Oliver loved about it. He knew everything that was happening at any given time, it was the ultimate in quality control. He knew what went into the ground, into the animals and ultimately what he was selling to his customers, down to the last grain.

Across the market, a laugh cut through the noise and Oliver’s heart skipped a beat. He didn’t even have to look to know that Felicity was nearby. Each week it got harder and harder to contain his response to her. Her smile was infectious and made his stomach do all kinds of flips and turns he’d never felt before. The first couple of weeks, she’d come alone and Oliver had tried brushing off his, admittedly rusty, flirting skills. She’d seemed responsive and he’d been ready to ask her out the next week. That’s when she’d shown up with him.

Barry.

Oliver hated Barry.

Actually, no, not really. He wanted to hate Barry, but the kid was so eager and earnest that Oliver found himself liking him despite the fact that he was dating the woman Oliver had fallen for.

_Two months earlier_

_“Good morning, Oliver.”_

_Oliver’s head spun around from where he was stacking honey jars to see Felicity standing on the other side of the table, smiling at him. Just like the last two times, he’d seen her, his heart started pounding and mouth went a little dry._

_“Felicity, hi.” he managed to get out, sighing at himself when his voice came out rough and gritty. “How are you today?”_

_“I’m great!” she enthused. “There was no line for the coffee cart this time, so I’m all caffeinated up!”_

_Oliver grinned. Every time he saw her, he found himself liking her more and more. She was funny and kind and something about the ponytail and glasses did it for him. Like, really did it for him. So much so that he’d told himself he was going to ask her out this week. He opened his mouth to do it right then, before he lost his nerve._

_“There you are. I lost you after the candle maker.”_

_Looking toward the voice, Oliver saw a young man coming toward Felicity with a smile. He was tall and thin with dark hair._

_“I told you I had to get to the Verdant booth before the run out of scones,” Felicity told the man with a tone of exasperation._

_“And I told you, that I had no idea where that was,” the man reminded her, matching her exasperation._

_Oliver’s gaze bounced between the two, trying to understand the dynamic between them. Were they friends or were they together? His stomach sank at the thought of Felicity having a boyfriend. He’d been testing the waters a little the last few weeks, flirting a little. She’d seemed receptive, even flirting back._

_At least, he thought she’d been flirting._

_“Oliver, this is Barry,” Felicity told him. “Barry, this is Oliver. He owns Verdant Farms.”_

_“Nice to meet you, Oliver,” Barry said with an easy grin. “Felicity’s told me so much about the market and this booth that I just had to see it for myself.”_

_“Nice to meet you too, Barry,” Oliver said, shaking the man’s hand, squeezing slightly harder than was strictly necessary._

_Felicity, largely ignoring the men talking, had already grabbed the last scone from the display and was happily chewing away while she looked over the week’s produce selection. “Verdant is the best stand at the market,” she told Barry without looking up._

_Resisting the urge to preen under praise, Oliver said, “You only like us for the scones.”_

_Felicity’s head shot up. “Well, yeah,” she told him with a wide grin. “You also have the nicest looking produce of any of the other stands here.”_

_“Is that why you never buy any?” he teased._

_“No,” she replied. “I don’t buy anything because I get overwhelmed with so many options and then up with nothing.”_

_“Why don’t you try our CSA boxes?” Three heads turned to see that Diggle had joined them_

_. “John Diggle,” Digg said, putting out a hand to Barry._

_“Digg is Oliver’s business partner,” Felicity explained. “And what’s a CSA box?”_

_“Community Supported Agriculture. Each week, we put together a box of our produce and meats our members. It lets you sample what we have every week,” Digg explained._

_Felicity’s eyes lit up. “Like a produce subscription?”_

_Oliver huffed out a laugh. “Yes, like a subscription. We can have one waiting for you here each week.”_

_“But, I can’t cook,” Felicity confessed her mouth turning down into a slight pout that made Oliver want to kiss it right off of her._

_Barry laughed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “She’s right. She can’t cook. At all. You should see her try to make pancakes.” Felicity elbowed him in the ribs, causing Barry to grunt in response, before she laid her head affectionately on his chest._

_“He’s right. It’s not pretty.”_

_Oliver barely heard Digg go back into spiel about the CSA. All he could focus on was Barry’s arm wrapped around her shoulders and the easy way they had with each other. They’d obviously been together for some time. Oliver’s heart sank at that realization. He should have known better than to think she was flirting with him._

_“Why don’t you try one this week, on us?” Digg was telling Felicity. “If you don’t like it, or you think the produce went to waste, I won’t bring it up again. Deal?”_

_Felicity gnawed on her bottom lip as she thought it over. Finally she said, “Okay. I guess I can always look up recipes online.” _

_ Before he could second guess himself, Oliver turned and walked toward his van, grabbing a pencil and notepad from the front seat. Quickly, he wrote down the recipe and instructions for a simple Caprese salad that he knew would utilize the tomatoes and basil in that week’s box to their finest. Just because she wasn’t into him, doesn’t mean he couldn’t help her out a little. _

_ Slipping the recipe into box, Oliver brought it over to Felicity. “I hope you like it,” he stated simply, trying to distance himself a little.  _

_ Barry, not noticing the change, took the box from Oliver with a smile. Felicity frowned a little at his tone of voice before saying goodbye. He knew she was confused, but he was honestly just trying to save a little face.  _

The next week, Felicity (and Barry) had shown up at the booth again with her raving about the recipe in the box and how simple it was and what a great idea. Oliver, ignoring Digg’s questioning look, told her that one came with every box. Now, two months later and Oliver was still sneaking recipes into her CSA box every week. He knew he should stop. Sooner or later she was bound to find out he only did that for her, that it was his way of flirting with her, even though she was in a relationship. Every week, Oliver told himself that this was the week he would stop and every week he would think of her face when she described her latest culinary success with his recipes and food and he would find himself writing out another recipe. 

“Hi Oliver,” a voice called behind him. 

Fighting back surprise, Oliver turned to see Felicity standing at the table grinning at him. He’d been so lost in his thoughts about her, that he hadn’t heard her approaching. Dressed in shorts and a striped t-shirt, she looked casual and pretty with her hair up in it’s usual ponytail. His smile back to her was involuntary. 

“Good morning, Felicity,” he replied, turning toward her fully. He always gave her his full attention, not wanting to miss anything she said. 

Felicity bit her lip as she peered at the table of baked goods and Oliver almost groaned out loud. Was she trying to kill him? The lip biting always made him feel a little dizzy. “Are you out of scones already?” she asked disappointedly, her bright blue eyes peering up at him from behind those glasses that just did it for him. “Did I miss them?” 

Reaching behind the tomatoes, Oliver pulled out the scone he’d hidden for her earlier and presented it to her with a wink. “I saved one for you.”

“You are the BEST!” Felicity proclaimed, snatching the scone from him and unwrapping it without hesitation and taking a bite. When she moaned, Oliver forced himself to look away, fearing he would embarrass himself. “Oh my goodness, Oliver. These are soooo good!”

Before he could answer, Thea appeared at his side. “You must be Felicity,” his sister declared. “I’m Thea Queen, Oliver’s sister.”

Felicity’s eyes shot open and Oliver silently cursed his sister. “Hi,” Felicity finally managed to choke out after swallowing her mouthful of scone. “It’s nice to meet you Thea. How did you know my name?”

“Diggle,” Oliver said quickly before Thea could say anything. “You know you’re his favorite customer. He was telling Thea about you.” 

Confusion faded into something else on Felicity’s face. Was that...disappointment? What did that mean?

“Yes,” Thea agreed, shooting her brother a weird look. “Digg was telling me all about you this morning.” Felicity smiled, “That’s sweet. Digg’s the best. Though I want to kiss whoever makes these amazing scones each week!” she declared taking another bite. 

Thea opened her mouth to tell her exactly who made them, but Oliver quickly spoke first. “I have your CSA box ready to go, Felicity.”

Felicity’s eyes lit up. “Oh! What’s in it this week?” 

“There’s tomatoes, red and green peppers, onions, corn, and peaches,” Oliver told her as Digg approached with her box.

“Good morning, Diggle!” Felicity beamed up at the man. “Thea said you were talking about me this morning.” 

“She did, did she?” Digg questioned with a raised eyebrow. 

“Yep! Something about me being your favorite customer?” she teased. 

Oliver’s heart stopped. He turned to his best friend to beg silently for his help, but Diggle never even looked at him. 

“You know you’re my favorite, Felicity,” Diggle deadpanned making her chuckle and Oliver sigh with relief. “No Barry today?” 

Felicity shook her head. “Nope. Just me today. I’m excited to see what recipe is included this time. I loved the Greek tzatziki salad pita from last week.”

“That’s funny,” drawled a voice to his left. “I don’t remember seeing a recipe card in my box.”

Oliver’s heart sank as he turned to meet the amused gaze of his other best friend, Tommy Merlyn. Thanks to a drunken night out, Tommy knew exactly how Oliver felt about Felicity and judging by the look on his face, there was no way he was going to let this go.

“Hey man,” Oliver said to his friend, trying to keep his voice light. “What are you doing here so early?”

Tommy grinned even more, looking between Oliver and Felicity with increased interest. “I keep hearing about how I’m missing all the good stuff earlier in the day so I thought I would check it out for myself.” 

Oliver grit his teeth, “So glad you could make it,” he said, his voice tight.

Tommy, ignoring his friend’s obvious distress, turned to Felicity. “Seems Oliver here has lost his manners, I”m Tommy.” Felicity shook his hand with a big smile.

“Nice to meet you, Tommy,” she said. “I’m Felicity Smoak.” 

Tommy lifted Felicity’s hand to his mouth, giving it a gentle kiss. Her eyes widened with surprise and Oliver’s fist clenched at his side.

“Aren’t you a smooth one?” she commented when Tommy released her hand. 

Tommy waggled his eyebrows good-naturedly at her causing her to laugh at him. “I try,” he agreed with a laugh of his own. “Now, what were you saying about recipes?” 

“Oh, they’re great!” Felicity enthused, her eyes lighting up. “There’s one in my CSA box every week. They have the best recipes, plus they are so easy! Normally I can’t cook at all! Like, I burn water when I try to cook, but these are so simple and so yummy!” 

Warmth spread through Oliver at her praise of his recipes. The feeling faded quickly when he noticed the gleam in Tommy’s eyes. 

“Really?” Tommy drawled. “They sound great. I guess the recipes are only for very special customers since I’ve never seen one, right Ollie?”

Oliver’s jaw clenched at Tommy’s smirk, repressing the urge to smack it right off his friend’s face.

“Oh no!” Felicity exclaimed. “I’m not a special customer. I’m sure you just haven’t seen them! Maybe check the bottom of the box or something, sometimes they fall down there. I actually found one stuck to the bottom of a flat of raspberries a few weeks ago. I could barely read the recipe through all the juice stains, but I managed to make it out. It was this really simple raspberry trifle that was so good! What was I saying?” 

Felicity’s cheeks turned a little red when she saw Tommy and Thea staring at her with open mouths and Oliver was sure he’d never seen anyone as adorable before in his life. He loved it when she rambled off topic about whatever was in her brain at that moment. It was his favorite part of his week, followed closely by watching her smile at him.

“You were telling us how you were nobody special,” Thea reminded her. The smirk was gone from his sister’s face, replaced by a look of contemplation. Oliver’s eyes narrowed as he tried to get a read on Thea. 

“Right!” Felicity answered. “No one special here. Just your regular, average customer. Who should be going.” 

Again, Oliver could tell something was off in Felicity’s tone of voice, but he couldn’t figure out what.

“Would you like help carrying the box, Felicity?” he asked her softly. He knew she was more than capable of handling it herself, but he was always happy to spend a little bit longer with her.

“No, but thank you,” she responded with a bright smile. “I’m going to stop at the coffee cart on my way back to my car. You shouldn’t be away from your stand that long.” 

Oliver thought that he could spend the rest of the day standing in line for coffee, as long as it meant he got to listen to her talk, but he didn’t say that. Couldn’t say that. She had a boyfriend. A really nice guy that Oliver actually liked. Instead, he bit his tongue and handed over the box. Before Felicity could take it, however, Thea reached over and snatched it out of both of their hands . 

“Why don’t I carry this while you show me where the coffee cart is, Felicity?” she said to a startled Felicity. “The caffeine is wearing off and I need a cup.” 

“Thea,” Oliver warned, but was cut off.

“I’d be happy to show you,” Felicity told his sister with a wide grin. “They have the best coffee.” 

Propping the box on her hip, Thea made her way around the produce tables to stand by Felicity.

“Sounds great,” she said. “Let’s go.”

Oliver expected to see turn and shoot him a smug grin, but she didn’t. The same could not be true about Tommy. As soon as the women were out of earshot, Tommy stepped into Oliver’s line of sight.

“So,” he grinned. “That’s Felicity.”

Oliver busied himself with straightening produce that didn’t need straightening. “Yep,” he replied shortly. “That’s her.”

“From the way you talked about her the other night, I half expected to see a halo above her head,” Tommy teased.

Oliver’s head shot up. “Come on,” he protested. “I wasn’t that bad.”

“I believe the term ‘goddess in glasses’ came out of your mouth,” Tommy challenged.

Embarrassment crept up Oliver’s cheeks and he ducked his head to keep Tommy from seeing it. “That was after you made me do that third shot of tequila. I didn’t know what I was saying.”

“One, you used to be able to hold your liquor a lot better,” Tommy reminded him. “And two, you’d been acting strange for weeks and I couldn’t get you to tell me about it. Tequila is always my backup plan when I need you to talk.”

“You proved today that I was right to try to keep quiet about her,” Oliver retorted.

“Why haven’t you asked her out,” Tommy asked, suddenly serious. “It’s obvious you like her and she is completely into you.”

Ignoring the flutter in his chest at his words, Oliver responded. “She has a boyfriend, man. I told you that.”

Tommy shook his head. “I think you’re wrong.”

 

Her brother was an idiot, Thea thought to herself as she walked beside Felicity on their way to get coffee. She loved him dearly, but the man was an idiot if he didn't do something to let Felicity know he was interested. Thea knew he thought there was a boyfriend, but judging by the looks she saw Felicity shooting her brother, she wasn’t buying it.

“It’s too bad your boyfriend couldn’t make it this morning,” Thea remarked as they approached the line to the coffee stand. Stopping abruptly, Felicity turned to stare open-mouthed at Thea.

“I don’t have a boyfriend,” she commented, clearly confused.

“Oh?” Thea questioned innocently.

“I thought I heard Ollie mention someone named Barry?” Felicity took a step forward as the line in front of them moved. “Barry’s not my boyfriend. Did Oliver say that Barry was my boyfriend?”

“Maybe?” Thea hedged. She wanted to get her brother together with Felicity, but she had to maintain some family loyalty.

“Oh,” Felicity breathed before falling silent. Thea let the silence settle between them as they approached the front of the line.

After a few moments, Felicity finally spoke. “Barry has a girlfriend, just not me. She likes to sleep in on Saturdays so Barry always comes with me here, to the Farmer’s Market. We’re just friends.”

Thea bit back her grin. “Oh, that’s nice. His girlfriend doesn’t mind?”

A snort escaped Felicity and this time Thea couldn’t stop the smile that broke out over her face.She really liked this woman.

“She better not,” Felicity said. “I was friends with him first AND introduced them!"

Silence fell over the two women as they waited in line for their coffee. Thea could tell Felicity wanted to ask her more about Oliver, but was holding back, unwilling to seem too eager.

“You should come out to the farm this afternoon,” Thea said, breaking the quiet between them as they approached the front of the line.

“The farm?” Felicity asked, obviously very confused.

“Verdant, you know, Ollie’s farm,” Thea clarified. “On Saturday afternoons, we open the farm up to the public. There’s live music and craft vendors. We even have a wood pizza oven. People bring chairs and bottles of wine and hang out.”

They reached the front of the line, preventing Felicity from answering. After getting their coffee, Thea followed Felicity to her car, hoping the other woman would give her an answer. After putting Felicity’s CSA box in her mini, Thea was starting to worry. Had she read the situation wrong? She thought for sure Felicity was into her brother, but she hadn’t said a word since Thea had mentioned coming out to the farm.

“Hey,” Thea finally said. “Are you okay? You’ve been quiet.”

“What?” Felicity asked, startled out of her thoughts by Thea’s question. “Oh no, I’m fine. Sorry. Just thoughts. Lots of thoughts happening up here.” Felicity gestured at her head, causing Thea to smile.

“Well, I hope some of those thoughts are about coming out to the farm this afternoon,” Thea told her. “I know Oliver would love to see you there.”

Doubt clouded Felicity’s eyes. “I’m not so sure about that,” she replied.

“Why do you say that?” Thea questioned.

“It’s just that,” Felicity started before stopping to chew on her lip. “If he wanted me there, wouldn’t he have me himself? I mean, I’ve been coming to the market for months and he’s never said a word. I think that’s a clear enough signal, don’t you?”

Thea sighed. Yep, her brother was an idiot.

“Look, Felicity,” she started. “I don’t know why Ollie hasn’t invited you out to the farm. Maybe he didn’t think you would be interested. Maybe he thought you had a boyfriend.” Felicity opened her mouth to protest, but held up a hand to stop her. “Here’s what I do know, though,” Thea continued. “Those recipe cards? The ones you get in your CSA box? No one else gets one.”

Felicity blinked at her. “What?” she finally croaked out after a minute.

“No one else gets a recipe card in the box,” Thea informed her, unable to stop the grin that stole across her face. “Only you.”

“But, why?” Felicity asked, trying to understand.

Thea pushed away from Felicity’s car. “I don’t know. Maybe you should come this afternoon and ask him yourself. Address is on the box.”

Thea walked away from a gaping Felicity. She really hoped the other woman came out to the farm that afternoon.

As she approached the booth, Thea could see her brother glaring at her, arms crossed over his chest. She snorted to herself. As if that was going to intimidate her.

“What do you do, Speedy?” Oliver asked cautiously. “What did you say to Felicity? I told you to stay out of it.”

Thea extended the cup of coffee to him with an innocent smile. “I just wanted to get you some coffee, big brother. You get grumpy without it.”

Oliver slowly took the cup from her hand, his eyes never once leaving her face. “What did you two talk about it?”

“Just girl talk,” she informed him sweetly. “Oh, and I may have invited her out to the farm this afternoon.”

“Thea!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fluff continues! I hope you guys enjoy the conclusion to this fic. It's been a lot of fun to write!

Nervous energy flowed through Oliver’s blood as he walked the rows of corn. Lyla, sick of his pacing and constant checking of the clock, had kicked him out of his kitchen. Without a definitive task, he’d found himself wandering his crops,calling on every relaxation technique he could think of to try and calm down.

It wasn’t working.

Damn Thea and her insistence on meddling in his life. Ever since she’d told him about inviting Felicity to the farm, Oliver had been torn between irritation and excitement at seeing Felicity again despite his best intentions.  
He knew this crush had on her was ridiculous. Even without the boyfriend, she was completely out of his league. From their weekly conversations, Oliver had discovered that she was smart, like scary smart and while Oliver was smart, he knew there was no way he could measure up to her intelligence. He was afraid that the more time he spent with her, the faster she would realize how out of his league she really much. 

Plus, there was Barry, Oliver thought, stopping to look at his almost ripe eggplants before leaning in tug out some weeds. He really wanted to hate the guy, but hating Barry would be like hating a puppy. The man was so earnest and eager and clearly smart enough to keep up with Felicity.

Thinking about Felicity and Barry made Oliver so distracted that it took him several minutes to realizes the weeds he’d been pulling weren’t weeds after all. Shaking his head in disgust at his carelessness, Oliver tried to repair the damage before leaving the poor plants alone. 

Leaving the fields behind, Oliver came around the back of the small farmhouse he shared with his little sister. It was a far cry from the mansion they’d grown up in, but both siblings agreed it was better. This place reflected them and who they wanted to be far more than the somewhat soulless rooms at Queen Manor. 

Oliver paused by the front porch and watched the buzz of activity happening in front of him. People were everywhere. Vendors setting up booths of their handmade jewelry, soaps, wood carvings and other wares. He could see Digg and Lyla getting the wood-fired pizza oven ready. 

Turning his head toward the small stage they’d built, he saw Thea talking with the band as they set up. His eyes narrowed when he saw the lead singer, Roy, standing way too close to his baby sister. Oliver resisted the urge to go over and step between them like he’d done the week before. His sister was a grown woman and no matter how much he hated it, she was allowed to date whomever she pleased. At least that’s what she’d told him when he’d tried to punch Roy for kissing her. 

“Oliver! Can you help me?”

Looking over, he saw one of the vendors, Leigh, struggling with her table. Grateful for the distraction he headed over to give her a hand. From there he was called from task to task for the next hour. 

He never would have thought that he would love having people on his farm, in his space, but he did. They had regulars that came back whenever they could as well as new people each week. People called out to him as he walked through the crowd, waving and smiling. Oliver smiled back, content in the community they were building here. 

His eyes scanned the crowd on blankets and chairs in front of the stage. If anyone had asked, he would have said he was just looking things over, making sure everyone was happy. He could admit to himself, however, that he was looking for Felicity. Everytime he saw blonde hair in a ponytail his heart skipped only to be disappointed. 

I am pathetic, he thought to himself.

“She’s over there,” Thea said from behind him. “Don’t try to pretend you weren’t looking for her.”

Oliver closed his eyes with an internal sigh. His sister always could see right through him. 

“Where?” he asked, opening his eyes to scan the crowd again. 

Thea stepped up beside him and pointed. “There. Under the tree. Apparently she didn’t want to get sunburnt.”

Following the direction of Thea’s finger. Oliver finally spotted a small group of people under the big oak tree to the right of the stage. His breath caught when Felicity turned his way and smiled. She waved, beckoning him to come over and join them.  
Thea nudged his arm. “Go. You know you want to.”

“Of course I want to,” he countered, still staring at Felicity. Her hair was down this afternoon. He’d never seen it down before and his fingers actually itched to touch it. “I don’t know if it's a good idea, Thea.”

“Why?”

“The more time I spend with her, the more I like her, Speedy,” Oliver explained. “Maybe I should have some self-preservation.”

Thea sighed before nudging him again. “Ollie,” she said, her tone one of exasperation. “Go over there. Talk to the girl and her friends. You have plenty of time for self-preservation later.”

Oliver was walking toward them, her, before Thea even finished talking. Nothing could have stopped him really, it was foolish to think it could. As he approached, Felicity stood from the blanket she’d been sitting on and met him a little bit away from her friends. 

“Hi,” she said, beaming up at him.

“Hi,” Oliver replied, a smile breaking out over his face.

“For a minute there I wasn’t sure if you were going to come over,” she told him. 

Oliver winced slightly. “Sorry. I...just had to talk to Thea about something.”

Felicity nodded. “This place is amazing, Oliver. I’m so glad Thea invited me to come out.”

“I’m sorry about that,” he apologized. “I should have invited you weeks ago.”

Felicity stared at him silently for a moment before grabbing his hand and pulling. “Come on. I want you to meet my friends.”

Trying to ignore the warmth of her small hand in his, Oliver let himself be led over to the group under the tree.

“Everyone, this is Oliver. He owns and runs Verdant Farm,” she said, addressing the four people on the blanket. “Oliver, that is Caitlin and Ronnie. You know Barry and that is his girlfriend, Iris.”

Oliver froze. What? Girlfriend? Barry had a girlfriend? He turned to see the man sitting on the edge of the blanket, his back against the tree and a pretty woman sitting between his legs, her back pressed against his chest.

Barry smiled when he saw Oliver staring. “Hey man!” he called. “Good to see you again. This place is great!”

“Yeah,” agreed Iris. “I can’t believe we didn’t know about it before.”

“Do you have time to sit with us for a little while?” Felicity asked softly beside him.

He nodded silently, his head still reeling and felt her tug him down next to her as she claimed a spot on the blanket. Oliver ended up squeezed between Barry, and Iris, and Felicity. He looked down and saw his jean covered leg pressed against Felicity’s bare one; his heart skipped when he noticed their hands still joined together.

“Is this okay?” Felicity whispered uncertainly, glancing at their hands.

Oliver squeezed her hand tighter in response, nodding with a small smile.To his left he heard Iris giggle softly. Looking over he could see Barry whispering in her ear while Iris kept laughing at whatever he said. Suddenly Oliver felt like an idiot. He’s just assumed Barry and Felicity were together because he couldn’t imagine anyone not wanting to be with her. Now, looking at the other man with Iris, he could clearly see how much Barry loved her.

“Barry is my best friend,” Felicity told him quietly, her mouth inches from his ear causing a shiver to run across his skin. “He’s been in love with Iris for years, but they just recently figured out how to make it work.”

Pulling his eyes from the couple, Oliver turned to Felicity, finding her face still close to his. “She doesn’t like the Farmer’s Market?” he asked her quietly.

Felicity smiled, “Iris doesn’t like getting up early on Saturdays.”

From the other side of the blanket, Caitlin spoke up. “Oliver, I’m so impressed by the set-up you guys have here. I can’t believe you do this every week.”

“Thank you,” he replied, tearing his eyes from Felicity to look at her friend. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s only for the summer. We also have some great volunteers that come out and help overy week.”

“Well, hello there.” 

Oliver looked back to follow Felicity’s gaze and saw his dog, Rosie, standing in front of him, patiently waiting for his attention. “Hey girl. What are you doing out here?”

Rosie responded by using her nose to nudge his hand that was currently in Felicity’s. Reluctantly, he released it and scratched Rosie’s head.

“Felicity, this is Rosie. Rosie this is Felicity,” Oliver said, introducing the two. “Rosie doesn’t normally come out when there are a lot of people here. She can be pretty shy.”

“Hey pretty girl,” Felicity cooed at the dog. Rosie tilted her head at the words, as if trying to figure out who this woman was and what she meant. “What kind of dog is she?”

“Who know?” Oliver answered with a laugh. “She showed up one day about three months after I bought the place and never left. The vet says she’s probably part lab, part Rottweiler and part anything else.”

Rosie stepped away from Oliver’s hand and inched closer to Felicity, her nose twitching frantically. After a minute of smelling her from head to toe, Rosie let out a big sigh and plopped down on the blanket, her head in Felicity’s lap.

“Oh, you darling girl,” Felicity cried, using both hands to cradle the dog’s face. “You are the sweetest thing.”

Warmth blossomed in his chest as Felicity cooed over his dog. Rosie was usually pretty wary of strangers, but it didn’t surprise him at all to see her curled up in Felicity’s lap. In fact, he was kind of jealous. 

“She likes you,” Oliver whispered in Felicity’s ear, smiling when he saw her shiver. “She doesn’t always like people.”

“I’m flattered,” Felicity responded, glancing over at him with a smile. “I like her too.”

Suddenly, Rosie pushed herself off Felicity’s lap and stood, staring at her. When she didn’t move, Rosie grabbed the hem of Felicity’s skirt with her teeth and tugged gently.

“I think she wants you to go with her,” Oliver said, pushing himself to his feet. He held out his hand to Felicity. “Come with us?”

Placing her hand in his, Felicity let him pull her to her feet.

“Where are you guys going?” Caitlin teased. 

“Apparently, Rosie wants to show me something,” Felicity informed them, reaching down to scratch the dog’s head.

“I bet she does,” Iris teased, taking care to emphasize the word “she”. 

Oliver squeezed Felicity’s hand but she just laughed at her friend’s teasing. “We’ll be back. Don’t eat my pizza when it’s ready.”

Rosie, sensing that her humans were finally ready, trotted off in the direction of the barn. Oliver tugged on Felicity’s hand and they followed the dog. People called out to him as they passed and he smiled or waved, but Oliver never stopped. While it wasn’t planned, Rosie’s intervention had provided him with the perfect opportunity to get Felicity alone, away from her friends. 

With the knowledge that Barry was NOT her boyfriend and they way she kept holding his hand, Oliver wanted to assume that she was interested in him the same way he was with her.However, as he’d learned today, assumptions were dangerous. He really wanted the chance to get her alone and clear the air.

Rosie led them to the back door of the barn and pushed her way through the narrow opening. Oliver dropped Felicity’s hand and reached up to push the door wide enough for the two of them to slip through. 

Pausing for a moment to let their eyes adjust to the sudden darkness, Oliver let the smells of the barn permeate his senses and center him. It never failed to amaze him that this was his life. That he got to do something he loved every single day and sometimes that knowledge overwhelmed him. But, anytime he came into the barn, and breathed in the scents of hay and grass and animal, he was brought back to the incredible reality that it was all real. 

“How many animals do you keep in here?” Felicity asked from beside him, looking around in curiosity. 

“We have four horses and six cows so far,” he replied. “They are all out in the pasture right now, though.”

“So it’s empty in here?”

From across the barn, came a bark. “Not quite,” he answered with a grin. “Come on, Rosie seems impatient.”

Felicity laughed and headed toward the far corner of the barn where Rosie was waiting anxiously. The dog barked in excitement as they approached and Oliver watched Felicity’s face light up in joy as she realized what was waiting for her.

“Oh my god!” she exclaimed, her voicing pitching higher in excitement. 

Tucked in the corner of the barn, Rosie had made herself a nest which currently held five puppies, all squeaking and yipping in an attempt to get their attention. 

“Can I go in there?” Felicity asked, her eyes shining up at him. In that moment, Oliver thought that he’d never be able to deny her anything as long as she looked at him like that.

“I’m pretty sure that’s why Rosie brought you here,” Oliver reminded her, laughing when she jumped and clapped in delight. 

Stepping in front of her, Oliver gripped her hips and lifted her over the small barrier he and Digg had put up to keep the puppies contained. 

Felicity’s eyes went wide with surprise at the move. “I could have gotten myself over, you know.”

Leaning in until his face was mere inches from hers. “What fun is that?” he asked, his voice low and deep. He knew he needed to talk to her, to get some of the clarity he’d been thinking about earlier, but when her eyes dropped to his mouth, Oliver’s heart sped up and all he could think about was kissing her.

Yip! Yip! Yip!

The sound of puppies barking broke the moment and both of them looked down to see five chubby little balls of fur on their hind legs, trying to climb Felicity. With a laugh, she reached down and scooped one up in her arms before sitting down cross-legged in the hay. Instantly, Felicity was covered with puppies, each trying to reach her face with their tiny pink tongues. 

Laughter poured out of her continuously at the antics of the puppies. Slowly, Oliver reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone, hoping to sneak a few picture before Felicity noticed. Unfortunately, he forgot to turn down the sound before trying to sneak his picture and Felicity’s head snapped up at the click of the camera.

“Busted,” she told him with a huge grin.

Oliver snapped another photo of her smiling at him before tucking the phone away in his back pocket and stepping over the barrier to join her. He was swarmed by puppies yipping and jumping, trying to get his attention, as well as Rosie barking happily beside them. Scooping up a puppy in each hand, Oliver plopped down beside Felicity. The two of them took turns playing with and cuddling both the puppies and Rosie for long minutes.

“Oliver?” Felicity said as the puppies rolled around on the ground in front of them. “Why did you never ask me to come out here this summer? I mean,I thought we were becoming friends, maybe more, but at least friendly.”

He could see hesitation,hope and even a little hurt in her eyes and it made his stomach clench. “You’re right. I should have invited my best customer out here the first week. And I was going to, after your first stop at the stand, I had our brochure ready to hand you and tell you all about it.”

“So?” she prompted. “What stopped you?” 

Oliver huffed out a humorless laugh. “Barry. Barry stopped me.”

“See, that’s what I don’t understand, Oliver,” she said, confusion ringing in her voice. “Even if you thought I was dating Barry, which,ew, what does that matter? Why wouldn’t you want me come out here anyway? As a friend, or even as just a paying customer. It doesn’t make sense.”

Picking up on Felicity’s emotions, Rosie belly crawled over to her and placed her head on Felicity’s lap. Soon, the puppies followed suit, curling up around the mama and Felicity and settling in for a nap. 

“To be perfectly honest, Felicity, I didn’t want you here,” Oliver blurted out.

Shock and hurt raced across her face before she was able to stop it. “I see,” she muttered. “I guess I should go.”

Damn it!

“No!” he cried, louder than he intended, causing the puppies to jump and whimper. “That’s not what I meant.” 

Refusing to look at him, Felicity shushed the puppies and stroked their backs in an attempt to get them to settle down.

“I didn’t want you here because I really liked you and the more I got to know you, the more I liked you. And I like Barry, he;s a nice man and you seemed happy with him. You're right, we were becoming friends, but I knew I could never be JUST friends with you and if you came out here and I saw more of you outside of the Farmer’s Market, I would end up telling you to leave your perfectly nice boyfriend and be with me instead!”

Heaving a breath into his lungs after his unplanned confession, Oliver closed his eyes and prayed to anyone who was listening that he hadn’t just completely messed this up. Slowly, he opened his eyes to find Felicity staring at him open-mouthed, speechless. 

“Say something,” he pleaded. “Anything.”

“Oliver, I…” she started before she was cut off by the loud peal of his phone. 

Blindly, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out the offending object.

“What?” he answered without even looking.

“Sorry to interrupt your playtime,” Thea responded, ignoring his abruptness. “But we are swamped out here and need more pies. Take Felicity to the kitchen and have her help you bring some out.” His sister hung up without another word causing Oliver to grimace in frustration.

“Everything okay?” Felicity asked, drawing his attention back to her. 

“Apparently, they’re really busy out there and need some pies from the kitchen,” he answered. “Would you like to help me or would you rather go back to your friends?”

He was giving her an out, they both knew it. A way to tell him without telling him that she wasn’t interested. She didn’t take it. 

“I’d rather stay with you,” she replied with a soft smile. 

His heart pounding with the implication of his words, Oliver helped her scoop sleeping puppies off her lap and stand up. With one last scratch to Rosie’s ears, the two of them took off toward the house.

As they made their way across the back lawn, Oliver did his best not to growl in frustration. Every time he felt like they were finally making progress, they were interrupted. Then when he did tell her how he felt, albeit not as smoothly as he would have like, she didn’t say anything. Just stared at him in shock. He hadn’t been able to tell what she was thinking. He hoped, he really hoped he hadn’t messed everything up. He had been pretty sure that Felicity was feeling the same he was, but her silence then and even now was really starting to mess with him.

“So this is where the magic happens?” Felicity finally piped up beside him as they approached the back door of the house. 

“Magic?” he questioned.

Felicity nodded. “Yes, the magical scones. They get made here, right?”

Oliver laughed, a knot loosening in his gut at her teasing tone. “Come on,” he urged, opening the door to guide her inside. “You can have an insider's tour.”

Felicity lingered near the door, taking in the kitchen while Oliver went to the industrial sized fridge to start retrieving pies.

“This is... not what I was expecting,” she said, her eyes scanning the place in surprise.

Oliver continued to grab pies from the fridge, placing them carefully on the counter. “When I decided to sell baked goods at the Farmer’s Market, I found out that a commercial kitchen was required. So, I had this kitchen added on to the back of the house. The original kitchen is still there. That’s where I test the recipes and this is where I make them to sell.” 

“You do the baking?” 

Oliver turned from the counter to find Felicity standing right next to him, her eyes wide with question. 

“Yes, I do,” he replied, taken aback by her closeness. “You didn’t know that?”

Felicity bit her lips and shook her head. “I just assumed someone else did it. Don’t you have a farm to run?”

Oliver ducked his head with a grin, “Yeah, but baking isn’t work. It’s fun for me.”

She was staring at him like she was trying to figure something out. Oliver resisted the urge to squirm under her gaze, but just barely. 

“Wait there,” she finally said.

Blinking in confusion, Oliver watched as Felicity scanned the room before her eyes landed on something in the far corner. Quickly, she darted across the room, grabbing a small stepstool and bringing it back to set right beside him. 

“You’re too tall,” she mumbled,stepping onto the stool, giving herself another foot in height. 

“Too tall for what?” he asked, his heart pounding when he realized the stool brought them face to face. 

Reaching her hands up and lightly gripping his cheeks, Felicity whispered. “I seem to remember promising to kiss the person who made my favorite cinnamon scones.”

Oliver’s hands automatically went to her waist to steady her when she began to slowly lean into him. As she made her way into his space, Oliver was overwhelmed by her smell and the heat of her body so close to his. He wanted to grab her and pull her to him as tight as possible. To devour her, but he also wanted to enjoy having her this close to him, finally. 

When her lips did meet his, it was with the same exquisite slowness. His whole body responded to the plush feeling of her lips pressed to his. She kept her hands on his cheeks, thumbs stroking as pressed just a little closer to him.  
Way too soon, Felicity pulled away and pressed her forehead to his with a sigh. “I’ve wanted to do that since the moment I met you,”she admitted softly, eyes still closed.

Oliver shook his, opening his eyes to stare into hers. “Not me,” he said.

Before she could comment, Oliver’s hands tightened on her waist as he lifter her off the stool. Swiftly, he spun them both toward the counter and set her gently on top. Felicity’s legs spread automatically to make room for his hips as he pressed in close to her. One hand slid to the small of her back as the other cupped the back of her neck. “I wanted to do this,” he told her before claiming her mouth. 

This time there was no hesitation on either of their parts. Her lips parted instantly and Oliver groaned as her tongue met his. She tasted like mint and coffee and he couldn’t get enough of her. He was instantly addicted and judging by the way she kissed him back, it seemed like Felicity felt the same way.

“Oh man! I just lost twenty bucks!” 

Out of breath, Oliver pulled away from Felicity in time to see Tommy entering the back door with a smirk on his face.

“What do you want, Tommy?” Oliver growled. Felicity was still pulled flush against him, one leg wrapped around his his,one hand on his chest while the other was tracing little circles on his stomach. Oliver was trying not to go cross-eyed at the sensation.

Tommy bit back a laugh at his friend’s obvious distraction. “Thea sent me to get the pies. She said you were probably...preoccupied.”

Felicity’s hands stilled and Oliver barely suppressed a whine. “Did you guys make a bet about us?” she asked Tommy, turning to look at him.

“Yeah and I lost,” Tommy pouted, loading the pies onto a large metal tray. “I figured it would take Oliver longer to kiss you since he’s had all summer and did nothing about it.”

“Tommy,” Oliver warned, but Felicity just laughed.

“Would it help your case if I told you I kissed him first?” Felicity teased, stopping Tommy on his way out with the pies.

Tommy’s face brightened momentarily before it fell again. “No, we only bet on whether you two would be kissing yet already, not who started it. Thanks though.” He threw her a wink before he headed out the door.

Oliver rolled his eyes. “Great. Now he’s going to tell Thea that you kissed me first and I’ll never hear the end of it.”

With another small laugh, Felicity pulled him back in so his face was right next to hers. “I guess that’s what you for not making the first move.”

Oliver brushed his nose against hers, taking a moment to breathe her in. “You’re right,” he agreed quietly. “How can I ever make it up to you?”

“I will accept countless cinnamon scones and even more kisses as payment,” she breathed.

“Deal,” he said quickly before leaning in a claiming her lips once more.


End file.
